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If day one of IIFA belonged to the Bachchans and Sarkar Raj, day two opened up the field to other Bollywood stars, established and would-be alike.
Saturday was the evening of the fashion extravaganza, where top designers like Rohit Bal, Sabyaschi Mukherjee, Manish Malhotra and the young, talented Vikram Phadnis set the ramp of the plush Siam Paragon pavilion hall on fire.
Bachchan Sr sported a pin-striped double-breasted suit with bright yellow tie, son Abhishek was in a Chinese-collar suit with subtle red piping, while Aishwarya Rai with her hair up in a chignon, looking rather heavier than usual, wore a flowing black gown with crossed sequined straps over a bustier top.
Showstopper
The elfin Kareena Kapoor, who has been prancing up and down the lobby of the host Dusit Thani Hotel in jeans and a T-shirt, was the showstopper of the fashion evening.
She smartened up to steal the limelight on Saturday night —dressed, naturally, by Bollywood's most popular designer, Manish Malhotra.
The highlight? Her outstanding three-piece sequinned gharara suit, in pink and gold, with a long and elaborate double-coloured stole.
The giant screen showed papa Randhir Kapoor smiling fondly, as his daughter swayed gracefully across the stage, to resounding applause.
Where Malhotra's clothes were noted for their sumptuous colours and rich weaves, Rohit Bal set himself apart with flouncy chiffon sleeves and flashy, iridescent sheens. The biggest spectacle was saved for the last models on the runway, who walked out in futuristic metallic looks.
Those two models were none other than Priyanka Chopra and Harman Baweja who star in Love 2050.
Also on the catwalk Ritesh Deshmukh and Ayesha Takia, stars of De Taali, which is also being promoted at IIFA. The up-and-coming stars partnered with young designer Vikram Phadnis, who unveiled his Bling collection, created especially for IIFA.
The collection had a strong East-West flavour, with polo necks paired with boots, smart shirts and dhoti-style trousers. But he also showed strikingly attractive gharara sets with tight, tiny blouses and long, flowing stoles.
off-beat touch
Sabyaschi Mukherjee added an off-beat touch to the show, sending out his models in bindis and horn-rimmed glasses, together with sequinned jackets and ethnic, multi- coloured skirts.
In the final analysis, it was not the 50 models from the two countries — put through their steps by fashion choregrapher Lubna Adams — who were the draw. The Bollywood stars, as ever, totally stole the show.
Urmila Matondkar and Twinkle Khanna were spotted in the audience and they will doubtless perform at the main awards event tonight.
The Mission Istaanbul film team, who won over the media with their spontaneous singing and dancing at their music launch yesterday, set the stage on fire, the men — tall, bearded Zayed Khan, big-built Nikitin Dheer (Jodhaa Akbar) and curly haired Shabbir Ahluwalia — flashing their Savile Row suits.
Actress Shreya Saran (Sivaji) sported a black flowing gown, while newcomer Shweta Bharadwaj was in a blood-red dress and lipstick, in line with her red-hot killer role in the film.
But it was long-haired Vivek Oberoi who got the loudest cheers, with even screen goddess Aishwarya Rai listening intently to him.
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